A Boat Load of Fun, Part 1

Posted on Sun 31st Dec, 2023 @ 1:47pm by Lieutenant Commander Dallas Briggs & Lieutenant Commander Kiara Lena

1,628 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: O' the Cardiff Rose
Location: Deck 1554 The River walk
Timeline: MD 2 1650 hours

ON:

It had been a few days since Dallas and Kiara had returned from the Diplomatic mission. Dallas had nearly recovered completely from the wounds that he had received from the fight with the assassin. Healing the outside of the body is easy with today's Medical Technology, it's the inside that still takes a bit of time. For Dallas, he was just a little sore and nothing more. He had been taking it easy and going over reports, lots of them. Basically, the Doctor still had him behind a desk for a few more days of recovery.

He had been thinking about Kiara a lot, well that was nothing new, he always did that. But, this time he was thinking of something fun that they could do together since it was Friday night and they really needed to have some fun after the last couple of weeks. Being on a Klingon Battle Cruiser didn't count, not even close. A thought came to mind when he thought about the River Walk down on deck 1554. He remembered seeing the majestic Riverboats meandering down a gently flowing river and thought that just perhaps that was the ticket. A good southern dinner, maybe some drinks and dancing, and perhaps a room for the night so they could get the whole treatment.

About two hours before the end of his shift he sent a private message to Kiara's computer inviting her after he made sure that there was still room on the boat cruise this evening.

Kiara was still dealing with reports and paperwork. Not only did she have to write a detailed report on the results of the diplomatic trip, but the reason she had to call in other ambassadors to take her place. The fact that her shuttle had been attacked and she was stranded on an uninhabited planet wasn't enough of an excuse. There were times, like this, when she seriously considered sending her superiors at Starfleet Command a very polite letter telling them they needed to readjust their priorities. But she didn't. Nor did she let Tesanna give a supplemental report. Her aide was less than tactful at the best of times.

Dallas' message was a welcome distraction. She quickly replied that she would love to. Their relationship and the extra time to do more research on the three claims on the mountain were the best things that came out of their recent ordeal. Now that he was mostly recovered, she looked forward to a night out.

Their relationship had grown and she kept some things in his quarters. They hadn't really talked at length about her moving in yet and that was something that was on his mind. At the end of his shift, he went back to his quarters to change clothes and wait for her to arrive. It normally took about twenty minutes to go back to his quarters except it was Friday and took nearly 30 minutes to arrive. He went back to the bedroom and switched into some comfortable jeans and a T-shirt.

Kiara didn't generally dress casually. Or she did, but her casual was a simple skirt or dress pant and a blouse. But she'd been trying to actually dress casually, especially as she knew that was how Dallas would dress. So she selected a pair of dark blue jeans and a sleeveless purple top with a pair of comfortable shoes and headed for Dallas' quarters.

She arrived fifteen minutes after he did, wanting to be sure he'd have enough time to change out of his uniform, and rang the chime. Even though she came here often, she still didn't want to just walk in.

"It's open!" Dallas called out. He was ready to get the weekend started with his favorite person in the whole universe. He wasn't sure about the future. The untimely death of his wife and there was the ghost, almost as if she had still been with him, to keep him company and possibly help him cope with her death. He knew that she would not be with him forever and in the end that must have helped him let go and Kiara stepped into the picture> She was his world now. He loved her deeply and couldn't see his life without her.

Kiara walked in and immediately hugged Dallas. "Hi." They'd both been busy since returning to 109. As much as she was glad they were back, she missed seeing him every day.

Dallas walked up to Kiara and hugged her. After he pulled away he spoke, "How was your day?"

"I think ambassadors like sending out missives and reports just to prove their value. Most aren't worth the time it takes to read them. Another week and I'll be caught up" She smiled at Dallas, taking a moment to appreciate how fortunate she was that he was in her life. "How was your day?"

"About the same as yours, lots of paperwork and reports to Starfleet and 109's new CO on all the happening on the station to include the Brown Sector. Not sure if I will ever be caught up. I'm really looking forward to this weekend and being out from behind a desk." He smiled and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

"Me, too. I'm especially looking forward to spending the weekend with you. I miss seeing you every day." They'd both been so busy with all the minutia that there'd been little free time. But now she was ready to leave it all in her office and enjoy what time they had together.

"Then I think we should let the fun begin. Are you ready to get out of here?" He asked.

"Absolutely," she replied, smiling.

Dallas offered Kiara his hand, "I'm ready too, we both need some us time."

She took his hand and smiled. "Yes." It was sad that the most time they'd spent together recently was while they were recovering from injuries. They definitely needed to make time for the two of them to be together now that they were mostly healthy and back on the station. "I've cleared my schedule until seven tomorrow and I want to make the most of it."

'Why just 24 hours?" He chuckled, "Do you think you'll need the day after to recuperate?" He smiled at her mischievously, "I plan to pack as much fun into this weekend as possible since we will have to wait a week before we can do it again."

"I have a conference call then, but I'm free after that." She didn't like the idea of not seeing him until next weekend, though. But she knew her days were more flexible than his and there was a lot going on right now. Still, she missed him.

"Well, good." he said, "After that, we can find something else to occupy our time. Perhaps the new movie theater that is on the Promenade. I keep hearing that it is quite good and a nice movie sounds relaxing."

"Okay. I haven't been to a real movie in a long time." She gave him an impish grin. "And I like the idea of sitting in the dark with you." The entire evening sounded lovely. Both of them could use some relaxation and Dallas knew the station far better than she did.

The couple stepped onto the first of several turbolifts that they would use to get to the promenade. The trip would take roughly 33 and a half minutes to complete. "You can sit with me in the dark and in private any evening that you like ma'am. It doesn't have to be in a theater." He smiled back at her.

"She grinned. "Can I do more than just sit?" She'd become too staid and formal of late and liked the way she felt when she was with Dallas. He made her happier than she'd been in a long while--and more flirtatious.

Dallas leaned in to Kiara so that she could only hear him, "My dear, you have earned the right to do whatever you want, besides, you know that I love you, we can feel each other in our thoughts." He clasped her hand gently and brought it up to his lips and kissed it gently.

"I love you, too." And since they finally had time to spend together, she sent him a brief telepathic image of what she wanted to do with him when they were back in his quarters. "But for now, I'm going to enjoy the ride." There was an empty bench near them and she took it, leaving room for Dallas to sit beside her.

Dallas smiled at the vision in his mind and sat down beside her as the lift descended. In minutes they would be on deck 1554 and overlooking the river where they would take a nice long boat ride.

"It seems like a lifetime ago that we went on that first riverboat ride," she said. "A lot has happened since then. And I always thought being a diplomat would be boring." She smiled. "I'm looking forward to tonight."

"It's not just the ride that we are going to do. We have a nice dinner to enjoy along with some dancing. I trust that you can dance?" Dallas said.

"Of course. A diplomat must be able to dance." She was also well-acquainted with formal dining etiquette on a number of worlds. But she was going to enjoy tonight more than any of them. "I look forward to dancing with you."

The turbolift stopped and the door hissed open. Dallas looked up at the Deck Number above the doors, 'Deck 1554'. "Looks like this is our stop." He said as he stood and offered her his hand.

She smiled as she took his hand. "Perfect." This was going to be fun.

(TBC)

 

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